(Morgan, 1890)
Diagnosis
In life, female scale cover oval to oblong, moderately to strongly convex, 1.0-2.5 mm long, white with yellow or whiteish marginal exuviae FURCZL1.jpg and FURZAL.jpg . Scale material is formed under the body as well as on top. Males have never been recorded. Body of female yellow in life (Gill, 1997).
Body of slide-mounted female approximately elongate oval, membranous initially but sometimes becoming slightly sclerotized around anterior margin with maturity; dorsal macroducts numerous, scattered over abdominal segments FURZAS.jpg . Pygidium with median lobes not zygotic, these lobes sightly recessed to form an apical notch; median lobes well separated, with a pair of gland spines and a pair of setae located between their bases; perivulvar pores absent FURZAMP.jpg .
Host range
Furchadaspis zamiae has been recorded from hosts belonging to 10 plant families (Borchsenius, 1966); cycads are the favoured hosts. Hosts include species of: Aralia, Ceratozamia, Cussonia, Cycadaceae, Cycas spp., Dioon, Encephalartos, Macrozamia, Maytenus, Musa, Rhus, Stangeria, Strelitzia, Thevetia, Trachycarpus and Zamia.
Affected plant stages: vegetative growing, flowering and fruiting stages
Affected plant parts: on leaves, normally on the ventral surface FURCZL1.jpg ; occasionally on stems
Biology and ecology
The biology of F. zamiae has not been studied. Kozár and Hippe, 1996, report two generations per year in Switzerland. Crawlers are the primary dispersal stage and move to new areas of the plant or are dispersed by wind or animal contact. Mortality due to abiotic factors is high in this stage. Dispersal of sessile adults and eggs occurs through human transport of infested plant material.
Symptoms
Toxic saliva injected during feeding causes chlorosis and necrosis of the leaves FURCZL2.jpg . Heavy infestations cause severe chlorosis of the leaves of cycads, so greatly reducing the aesthetic quality and value of these expensive and slow-growing plants (Gill, 1997).
Economic impact
Furchadaspis zamiae is a serious pest of ornamental cycads (Gill, 1997).
Detection and inspection methods
Closely examine the ventral surfaces of leaves of cycads for oval to oblong, moderately to strongly convex, white scale covers, each with yellow or whiteish marginal exuviae.
Phytosanitary risk
There is an international trade in ornamental cycads; shipment of these large plants creates a considerable risk that F. zamiae will spread to more tropical countries. Such plants should be inspected thoroughly at import.
Natural enemies
Parasitoids:
- Neococcidencyrtus poutiersi, in South Africa
Distribution
See Furchadaspis zamiae distribution.
Microscopic examination of slide-mounted adult females is required for authoritative identification to species.
Comments
Furchadaspis zamiae originated in southern Africa but is now cosmopolitan in tropical and subtropical regions (Balachowsky, 1954), and is also found under glass in temperate regions (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998). It has not been recorded from the Pacific islands.
Europe: under glass (Gill, 1997)
Denmark: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Finland: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Former Czechoslovakia: under glass (Nakahara, 1982)
Former USSR: under glass (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
France: present, no further details (Foldi, 2001)
Germany: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Italy: present in the south (Longo et al., 1995; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Sardinia: present, no further details (Longo et al., 1995)
Sicily: present, no further details (Longo et al., 1995)
Poland: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Portugal: present (Nakahara, 1982; Amparo Blay Golcoechea, 1993)
Azores: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Madeira: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Spain: present in Madrid (Amparo Blay Golcoechea, 1993)
Balearic Is: present (Amparo Blay Golcoechea, 1993)
Canary Is: present, no further details (Amparo Blay Golcoechea, 1993)
Sweden: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Switzerland: present (Kozár et al., 1994; Kozár and Hippe, 1996)
United Kingdom: restricted to a few botanical collections, under glass (C.P. Malumphy, Central Science Laboratory, UK, pers. comm.)
England: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Asia
Korea: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Southern Asia: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Turkey: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Africa
Algeria: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Cameroon: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Egypt: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Morocco: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Mozambique: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
South Africa: present, no further details (Annecke and Mynhardt, 1973; Nakahara, 1982)
Swaziland: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Zimbabwe: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Western Hemisphere
?Argentina
?Buenos Aires: not recorded since 1938 (Claps et al., 2001a)
?Bermuda: not collected since 1925 (Hodgson and Hilburn, 1991)
Central America: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
USA: in subtropical states (Gill, 1997)
California: present wherever cycads are grown, commonest in the south (Gill, 1997)
Hawaii: present on Oahu and Kauai (Heu, 2002)
Massachusetts: under glass (Nakahara, 1982)
Maryland: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Missouri: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
New York: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Pennsylvania: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Wisconsin: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Oceania
Australia: present, no further details (Gill, 1997)